California Dreamin'
by Deceitful Reflection
Summary: Mallory's the girl all the guys want. Matt is the guy all the girls want. How many mistakes will it take before the two best friends realize they're meant for each other? The school has never seen a year like this before. Hogwarts is about to be turned up
1. A final Day

Ch.1 A Final Day 

As the sun prepared to rise and reveal it's first rays from behind the rocky mountains, to bathe the entire desert landscape in a kaleidoscope of colors, Mallory sat on her back porch, counting down the seconds until she would first feel the sun's warmth.

"3...2...1..." Right on time, the sun permeated the air like a knife through butter and struck Mallory's piercing blue eyes, causing her pupil's to shrink, giving her a cat-like appearance. She got up and retreated into the lonely house. The house was typical of muggles, all the houses in the entire desert were. Few magical people chose to live in such an unkind environment when they could easily live anywhere they wanted. Mallory lived with her grandmother, and both of them loved the desert. They felt is was so unique compared to other areas and landscapes.

"Grandma?' Mallory called out. She heard no response. She hadn't expected her grandmother to still be in the house. She was quite an active woman for her old age, and was often gone before Mallory would wake up every morning.

Mallory walked into the bathroom and stared into the mirror, examining every little detail about herself. She carefully brushed the tangles out of her stick straight, chest length, layered jet black hair…

_'My natural color'_ she thought proudly, aware that few blue eyed girls were born with such a strikingly different hair color. She looked at her face, slightly pale-

_'Well I am allergic to the sun after all_' she thought.

Yes, allergic to the sun, but it was only minor…more than 20 minutes in the sun caused her sensitive chest to break out in a rash. But she enjoyed her pale skin. It added more to the contrast of her features. Her skin was creamy and smooth, except for the light sprinkling of freckles across her nose, only visible to those who took the time to notice. Her grandmother called them "Angel Kisses". Mallory called them a nuisance…she'd become all too tired of being called cute due to her freckles. But she looked older than her age…16 years old…she looked more along the lines of a 19 year old. She ran her hand through her shiny hair, tousled it for a slightly messy affect( she hated looking too perfectly groomed ) and left the bathroom. She intended on heading for the kitchen to grab a water bottle but was stopped halfway by a tapping at the screen door.

"Mal! Hey Mal! It's me!" Said a voice from outside…She knew it had been him before he'd said a word. Only Matt would show up at her door at 6 AM.

"Can't even wait long enough for me to get dressed before you come over and bug me, eh?" she responded jokingly.

"Well good morning to you too, miss sunshine," Matt rolled his eyes. "Aren't you gonna invite me in?"

"Nope…I'm pretty sure you'll come in anyway." She said in a bored voice, continuing her walk towards the kitchen.

"Thanks, I love your enthusiasm Mal, but you might be overdoing it a bit." He said sarcastically while coming in through the door. He sat down at the table and helped himself to a plate of donuts sitting in the middle of the table like a decoration.

"Uhh, Matt? You do know those are for decoration…Grandma hasn't replaced them for about a week." She said furrowing her brows and biting her lower lip.

Matt, who had already taken off a bite, sniffed the donut, examined it a bit, then shrugged his shoulders and resumed eating it. Mallory rolled her eyes at him.

"So…" said Matt, his mouth full with donut, "Whad'you thing we're gunna doo tooday?" he asked, emphasizing through his full mouth with too much gusto.

"Matt, swallow." Mallory replied distractedly. She'd began reading a magazine. "_Top Thirty International Wizarding Schools_" . The front cover showed a large building, which resembled a fancy palace. It appeared to be made of ice, due to the way it sparkled and shimmered in the photograph, and numerous ice sculptures seemed to be placed along the front entrance. Snow was falling in the photograph. She watched the snowflakes, mesmerized for a few seconds, before realizing that every snowflake was exactly the same.

"Enchanted snow…" she mumbled to herself.

"Wha'bout snow?" Matt replied, halfway through taking a new bite of his donut. He stopped to look out the window, with an expression that clearly suggested Mallory had gone mental.

"No, in this picture. This school has enchanted snow falling in front of it. You can tell because every snowflake is the same." She said, still not tearing her eyes away from the picture.

She looked to the corner and noticed a caption. It read:  
'_Beauxbatons, one of the most beautiful wizarding schools in all of Europe, is well known for it's acceptance of a wide variety of magical beings, including Veela's. Though quite small in comparison to other schools, Beauxbatons is certainly not for those with a lack of money. One year at Beauxbatons can range from 10,000 to 35,000 Galleons, depending on the classes a student might choose to take_.'

"Damn!" Mallory exclaimed, upon seeing the outrageous prices. Matt, having finished his donut, got up and joined Mallory at the kitchen counter and looked over her shoulder at the magazine.

"Yeah, stuck up rich kids go to that school. I've heard stories about them." Matt said, looking at the picture disdainfully.

"Like what?" Mallory asked, suddenly curious.

"Well, 2 years ago Beauxbatons participated in the Tri-Wizard tournament, Hogwarts hosted it. Apparently nearly all the girls who entered the contests were Veela's and they found Hogwarts to be an "_unsuitable_" place to say. Those girls could find anything to complain about." He finished.

"And how do you know this?" Mallory asked raising an eyebrow.

"I have a friend at Hogwarts…he told me about it." He replied

"Oh," Mallory replied simply, "Well if you don't mind I'm gonna go get dressed. I shouldn't be running around in pajamas with _you_ around." She said, rolling her eyes.

Matt stared at her clothes. Nothing special, a pair of plaid, flannel, blue pajama pants, rolled down at the waist because they were too long, and a tight wife beater. He also noticed a pair of fluffy red slippers and chuckled quietly at them.

"Mal, it's Saturday, there's no need to get dressed. And I've seen you in worse things." He said with a smirk.

"Fine, but at least let me put on my makeup…I feel naked without it." She said, rubbing her arms and shivering dramatically.

"Whatever Mal, you don't need makeup." She rolled her eyes at him and went back into the bathroom. She pulled her wand out of her pocket and pointed it at her face.

"Cosmetico!" she said, and instantly her makeup was done.

"Mal, it would be just as quick if you'd done it by hand!" Matt said, laughing at her.

The only difference was that there was now mascara on her lashes, which were very long to begin with, black eyeliner ( she just loved to accentuate her eyes ) and a bit of shimmer on her cheekbones for a wintery affect. You could hardly find anything wintery in the desert.

"Shut up! I like my spells." Mallory had a talent for inventing spells. She found that a slight change in the flick of her wrists while saying an incantation, could tweak a spell slightly. Scourgify, for example, could be used to brush her teeth, and rather than pink soap bubbles emerging from her mouth, her teeth would be instantly clean, bright, and her mouth minty fresh. Very convenient, since Mallory enjoyed anything that saved her time.

"Aww come one Mal, you know I like them too. You're absolutely brilliant, the way you make up spells." Matt said, trying to sweet talk her.

She turned to him and smirked. "Flattery will get you nowhere." Then she walked past him and flicked the tip of his nose, making his eyes water.

"Argh! Mallory!" he shouted, covering his nose. "You know you're not gonna get away with that!" he said, advancing towards her, his wand out and ready.

"Expelliarmus!" she said lazily, "Matt you should know better than to pick a duel with me, you're reflexes are the slowest I've seen!" she said, laughing at the stunned look on his face.

"You win!" he said, putting his hands up in mock surrender. "Accio wand!" he said, and instantly his wand flew into his outstretched hand. Granite Hills, the wizarding school Matt and Mallory attended, put great emphasis on wandless magic, and by 7th year, all students were expected to no longer need a wand. Matt and Mallory were perfectly capable of wandless magic, but they found it much easier to use a wand. Wandless magic took much more mental concentration, and after a long day at school, their brains were often fried past the point of being able to use them properly.

"Ok, so, what have you got planned for today?" Matt asked, plopping down on the sofa.

"We can go swimming later, once it gets hot." Mallory offered, thinking of more things to do.

"But Mal, your pool is _filthy_!" Matt replied with disgust.

"Nothing a cleaning spell won't fix, Matty Boy." she said, holding up her wand with a grin.

"Oh, right." Matt felt stupid.

"But for now, I want to finish that magazine. Accio Magazine!" Mallory sat down next to Matt as the magazine flew towards her. She opened it and began reading.

Matt sat patiently while Mallory read. The silence was punctured only by the ticking of the clock and an occasional comment from Mallory.

"Hey Hogwarts is in here. They're #5! Wow!" Mallory said suddenly. That would be the new school they were transferring to. They were to travel to the International Floo Transport Center in Los Angeles first thing tomorrow morning. Both of them were already packed and ready, and were going to spend their last day the best they could.

"Oh! Later I want to go visit Glenda…and you're coming with me." she added as an afternote, her voice suddenly stern.

Matt grumbled. He didn't like Glenda… _really_ didn't like Glenda .

Mallory gave him a warning look, her crystalline eyes suddenly menacing. She went back to reading her magazine. Matt occupied himself by playing with a rubber band. About an hour later Mallory put down the magazine and stretched.

"Done? _Finally_?" Matt asked, relieved.

"No, I've still got a bit more, but I'm ready for a break. Let's go swimming!" She said suddenly hopping up.

"Mal, I don't have my swim trunks with me." Matt said exasperatedly.

Mallory rolled her eyes. "Apparatium." she said. Suddenly Matt's trunks appeared out of thin air and fell into a heap on the floor. "You'd think you weren't a wizard!" she said while rounding the corner into her bedroom. Matt followed her.

"Come on, Mal, you know I get good grades…I just don't have common sense…sometimes." He said, defending himself. Meanwhile Mallory was retrieving her bikini from her dresser.

"Yes Matt, I know, I know." she said. Matt continued to stand there awkwardly.

"Uhh Matt, do you mind? I'd like to get dressed." she said raising her eyebrows in that _get-out-of-my-room-before-I-curse-you-out-of-it_ type of look.

"Oh! Right…yeah…umm…I'll go change in the bathroom." he said, while nodding in an unnecessary way. Mallory shooed him out with her hand and shut the door. She performed a locking curse on it for good measure.

Mallory quickly undressed and put on her bikini. It was striped red and white. She loved how it contrasted with her hair. She examined herself in the full length mirror, turning in circles to look at herself from all angles. She was glad for all the sports she played. Not only was she a chaser on the Granite Hills quid ditch team, she also enjoyed the muggle sport of softball and played in a muggle league. The two sports had left her with a nice toned body. Slim, but with curves. She had an unfortunate habit of rarely eating, though it wasn't an eating disorder. She was just all too busy to eat and was too bothered to remember. Not to mention she was extremely picky about her food. She turned around to see the back view of her. She laughed at her butt. She had a tiny little butt, quite the opposite of the new "Ghetto Booty" craze. She shrugged her shoulders and turned back around. She adjusted her bikini top to make sure she was fully covered. She was just about to put a charm on her strings to keep them from being untied ( Matt was all too playful when they swam together ) when Matt knocked on her door.

"Mal?" came his muffled voice from behind the door. "Are you ready?"

"Yes Matt! Why don't you start cleaning the pool? It'll go faster with the both of us."

Mallory thought she heard a grumble from behind the door but ignored it. She quickly pulled on a tiny pair of white terry cloth shorts, slipped on her spotlessly clean white slip flops and grabbed her sunglasses before leaving her room.

She went out into the backyard to find Matt standing next to the pool with a confused look on his face. She immediately saw that the pool was filled with soap bubbles.

"I, uh, forgot the wrist flicky thing you taught me Mal…" he said, apologetically.

Mallory laughed and performed the proper spell. The pool instantly was cleared of all leaves and dirt and the water shimmered a clear blue, similar to Mallory's eyes.

Mallory looked over at Matt to see him staring at her, a slight grin on his face.

"Well well, _somebody's_ looking sexy today! That a new bikini?" he said, still ogling her.

It happened in a flash. Mallory narrowed her eyes at him, gave a powerful wave of her hand, and instantly Matt was being flung sideways into the air, his face contorted into a look of surprise. He just begun to shout when the sounds were muffled by water filling his mouth as he fell into the pool.

"Hey!" Matt coughed, and blinked the chlorine out of his eyes. " I wasn't planning on getting in yet!"

Mallory smiled at him as he climbed out of the pool grumpily, performed a quick drying spell, and layed down on a towel placed on one of the reclining chairs.

Mallory admired him. He was very good looking. About 6 feet tall, tanned, and a great, toned body. He too, played on the quid ditch team. He had slightly messy brown hair, that hung down to his ears, in a sort of casual elegance type of way. He also had stormy gray eyes, with tinges of yellow and red near the middle…strange, yet fascinating. But what attracted Mallory most of all, was his captivating smile. The way his eyes seemed to sparkle, and the cute little dimples that formed in his cheeks. Mallory thought he was absolutely gorgeous…she had once had a crush on him. But they were best friends, and now Mallory had no romantic feelings whatsoever. She forced herself not to watch him for too long.

"Hmm…well I'm getting in. I need to cool off."

She quickly threw her hair up into a messy bun high up on her head, the shorter layers left framing her face. She descended the stairs at the shallow end and smiled as the cool water soothed her burning skin. The bottom of the pool was cushioned, and soft as she walked on it. She walked until she was submerged up to her neck…it was then that she realized the skin on her chest was still burning.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, catching Matt's attention. She ran towards the steps and quickly exited the water. She looked down and saw that her chest had turned bright red and was covered in bumps. "I forgot to put on my sunblock!"

"Mallory you _idiot_!" Matt said exasperatedly. He angrily got up and followed her into the house. He found her in the kitchen rubbing ice over her chest. She ran to the cupboard and extracted a few strange ingredients. He noticed one of them was essence of juniper.

"Matt will you get me my cauldron! It's under the desk in my bedroom." She said, her voiced laced with pain.

Matt ran off to grab her cauldron and Mallory sat up on the counter, tears in her eyes. As of yet, Mallory still hadn't found any muggle remedy for the outbreak, and couldn't even find a spell to help her. She _had_ managed to concoct a potion that healed her rash within seconds, but it was barely worth it for all the pain the potion caused.

"Here." Matt said, placing the cauldron on the counter. Mallory quickly poured in all of the ingredients and stirred it with her wand. She then placed a washcloth in the cauldron and soaked up the potion. She took a deep breath and placed the washcloth over her chest.

Instantly there was a loud hissing sound and smoke began to rise up from her chest. She bit her lip to keep from yelling out as tears ran down her face. Soon the hissing and smoking died down and there was no sound except Mallory's heavy breathing. She removed the washcloth and looked down. No trace of the rash. She quickly grabbed another ice cube and rubbed it over her chest to soothe the burn of the potion. Matt noticed the cold of the ice cubes seemed to be having an affect on certain parts of her body just below her chest…he quickly looked away and concentrated on a bird hopping around on the patio.

"Well, that's better…lemme go grab my sunscreen. I'll meet you back out there." Mallory said, hopping off the counter and heading for her bedroom.

Matt went back outside and got into the pool. He rested his arms on the side of the pool and waited for Mallory. She came back out a few minutes later and joined him in the pool. They spent the next couple of hours out there before retreating into the house.

"Hey Matt, get dressed. I wanna go see Glenda now." she said.

Matt grumbled something about not wanting to, but Mallory just headed towards her room saying "I'll only be a few minutes."

Once they were both dressed, they left the house. Matt hopped into Mallory's truck and honked the horn at her. Mallory glared at him as she got into the truck.

"Ooh, you're so sexy when you're mad, Malors." he said. Mallory grimaced.

They spent the rest of the ride in silence.

Mallory and Matt pulled up to the deserted farm just as the sun was beginning to set, turning the sky into a brilliant canvas of colors. Mallory quickly got out of the truck and set off at a quick pace down the desert trail towards the last stable that still contained a roof. She gave a quick whistle and heard a stomping of hooves and a neigh in return.

"There's my Glenda." she said, entering the stable and spotting the brilliant chestnut beast. Glenda kicked at the door and strained her neck to reach Mallory, obviously wanting attention. Mallory reached out and stroked Glenda's cheek. Glenda bucked her head and let out an impatient grunt before sniffing and chewing at Mallory's shirt.

"I don't have anything for you, baby," she said, holding up her hands to show her. "See? Nothing."

Glenda gave her a reproachful glare and turned her back and began trotting a circle in her tiny paddock. Mallory felt sorry she hadn't thought to bring a carrot, but knew she'd make it up to the horse.

"Glenda, wanna go for a ride? Huh, baby?" She cooed, clapping her hands. She unlatched the gate and Glenda obediently remained inside. She clapped her hands once more and the horse trotted out and stopped right next to her and kneeled down so that Mallory could easily mount. She didn't have a saddle for Glenda which made it quite hard to mount, but Glenda didn't seem to mind.

Mallory gave the horse a sharp pat on the shoulder blade and the horse set off at a steady trot back towards the truck. Matt had settled himself in the back and was lazily sipping a bottle of green apple soda.

"Hey, wanna go for a ride?" she asked him giving him her cutest smile.

Matt pretended to be vaguely tempted before responding, "Eh…No."

Mallory frowned. She hadn't once gotten him to ride Glenda. But, oh no, she wouldn't give up.

"What if I offered you a little _reward_?" she responded seductively, licking her lips and raising her eyebrows.

She knew this would get Matt's attention. Though they were the best of friends, even a blind man could sense that Matt wanted Mallory more than anything in the world. Sure he would thoroughly enjoy the physical aspects of it…she was hot as hell! But Matt also knew that if she were to satisfy everything he could ever want of her, he would fall madly in love with her…or was he already in love with her? But he knew that if it were to go anywhere past being friends, he would be liable to mess something up, and lose her as a love, as well as a friend…he'd never want to take that chance. So he had to settle for admiring from afar.

"Well, what'll it be?" she asked.

Matt doubted Mallory seriously would give him the "reward" she was pretending to give. He knew it was just to get him on the horse…_'damned horse'_… he thought. He knew it would make Mallory happy…that's what he wants…for Mallory to be happy.

"Ok Mal, I'll do it. But that thing had better not take a dump while I'm riding it or I swear tomorrow it'll be disemboweled!" He said grumpily.

"Matt!." She scolded him, giving him a look that could kill.

"I'm just kidding! Just kidding!" he said. He did not wish to experience the wrath of Mallory.

He walked up to the horse…it was enormous.

"Eh, how do I get on?" he scratched his head as he wondered.

"Clap twice…she'll kneel down."

He did so and the horse bent it's large knees and sank to the ground. He awkwardly straddled the horse behind Mallory and wiggled around to readjust his position. He just became aware of the fact that straddling a horse bareback may not be the most comfortable thing for a guy…he also became aware of the fact that he was nearly straddling Mallory and this too would make for more discomfort, although for a completely different reason.

"Ready?" She asked. Before he could answer she gave Glenda another sharp pat on the shoulder and she quickly rose to full height. Matt nearly lost his balance and had to quickly wrap his arms around her waist to keep from falling over. Immediately he was overcome by her scent…she seemed to smell like everything at once…he could sense something sweet, like vanilla, next second a slightly spicy, sexy aroma…another whiff and he could smell a flower…a magnolia…

'How the hell do I know _that_?' he asked himself?

He was spared answering his own question as Mallory gave a final pat on Glenda's shoulder. Before Matt could prepare himself, Glenda was off at a full sprint. His grip tightened around her waist as he held on for dear life. He chanced a glance downwards and saw the horse's hooves, which at that high speed resembled a deadly boat propeller…he did not want to get in the way of those.

Behind them, the farm was just a tiny speck. All that was around them was bushes, cactuses, and sand dunes.

"Mallory! Mal, this is far enough! Please let's go back!" Matt whimpered. He knew this horse was an absolutely wretched animal…

Mallory was willing to cooperate. She was proud that he'd gotten on the horse in the first place. She knew he deserved a break now. She slowed Glenda and turned her around and began a pleasant trot back towards the farm.

Surprisingly, it wasn't too long a ride back. Matt was thankful to be off the horse, which he made obvious by flinging himself on the ground beside the small pond and sighing with relief. Mallory rolled her eyes at him and led Glenda to the water to give her a much needed drink. Mallory figured Glenda would be fine on her own and could use some time to roam, so she left the horse to wander as she pleased. Mallory found Matt propped up against the trunk of a beautiful and majestic looking willow tree and plopped down next to him and rested her head on his legs.

"Remind me again _why_ I got on that animal." Matt asked her.

"Because you love me!" She responded playfully, putting on a fake pout.

'_You don't know how much I really do_…" he thought to himself. If only he was brave enough to tell her.

Mallory laid there, she didn't know how long, she just stared out into the sunset, the last red desert sunset she would see for a long time. She loved these sunsets. They were like no other. The air around her seemed to literally turn crimson, staining everything like droplets of blood. Mallory gazed into the horizon until the scarlet wave dissipated and she was left with nothing but the dusky sky with the first few stars twinkling at her, almost like glittering teardrops, and she was soon forced to fight back her own tears.

Matt closed his eyes and relaxed against the large tree. He was very content to just fall asleep here with Mallory's warm body near to him. He thought she'd fallen asleep, but was proved wrong when he felt her move, and heard a small sniffle.

"Mal, you ok?" he asked sitting up, reaching down to stroke her hair. She turned around and he was shocked to see her piercing sapphire eyes glowing with tears. Even in the dark, her eyes seemed to be alight and visible, and soon a solitary tear slipped down her cheek, sparkling as it reflected the moonlight. He reached out and wiped away the tear with his thumb and let his hand rest there, lightly stroking her cheek. Unable to control herself she let out a sob and buried her face in his chest.

"Shhh, Mal, it's ok." He said soothingly, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing her back. He just sat there holding her, comforting her. After a while her crying stopped, but she stayed there, in his arms. Her eyes were closed. She was breathing in his scent. It somehow comforted her even more. She shifted so that her back was now against his chest and she was cradled between his legs. He ran his fingers through her silky hair, and could've sworn he heard her purr contentedly. He slowly pushed her hair off of her neck, and nuzzled her soft skin. She smelled so good….it intoxicated him. She sighed and tilted her neck to the side. Matt took this as his cue and he softly kissed her neck, slowly began nipping at her skin. He felt Mallory shiver. She turned to face him and looked into his eyes. He leaned forward slightly and brushed his lips against hers, just the slightest bit of a kiss. Mallory brought a hand up to caress the side of his cheek and drew him down into a more passionate kiss this time. She felt his tongue gently pressing against her lips, and she let him in, caressing his tongue with hers. His lips tasted sweet, and suddenly she craved for him. His scent, his taste, everything. She felt his hand snaking up the back of her shirt, lightly tracing up and down her spine. She arched her back into him, his light touch driving her unbearably crazy. She broke this kiss and looked up at him. His eyes were sparkling wildly. She smiled up at him and gave him one last lingering kiss before settling herself once again with her back against his chest, and his arms around her. He gently caressed her until they both fell asleep under the stars.


	2. Oh What Wonders Await us

Ch 2. Oh What Wonders Await Us 

Mallory opened her eyes slowly. She heard birds chirping, and looking around, could see a fine mist rising from the pond. The sky was gray, and you could just barely see the sun behind the clouds. It had just recently risen. Mallory felt warm. Matt's strong arms were wrapped around her, yet her uncovered legs were quite cold.

Wait…Matt's arms around her?

She mentally smacked her forehead. She shouldn't have let this happen. But she had to admit she'd enjoyed it. She could clearly remember the sweet taste of his kiss, and found herself wanting more. But could she possibly risk their friendship? Well, she already had. She was quite sure that after last night Matt would expect something of her…and he would surely be disappointed if she did otherwise. And she had to admit that she would be disappointed too. In herself. She figured there was no turning back now…not that she wanted to.

Mallory turned around and gave Matt a light kiss. He didn't wake up.  
IHe's so cute when he's sleeping/I she thought, watching him fondly. Unable to resist, she ran her fingers through his messy hair. Only now did he wake up.

"Mmm, Morning." He said sleepily. He stretched, then pulled Mallory back into his arms.

"Wait." He said suddenly, his voice sounding fearful, "What time is it? We need to Floo into London by 6 AM their time!"

Mallory sat bolt upright. Judging by the angle of the sun it was at least 8 AM. They were four hours ahead of London time. That's mean's in order to be in London on time they'd have to Floo by 10 AM…and it takes at least 2 hours to get to L.A from Apple Valley.  
Mallory jumped up and started running towards the truck, Matt right behind her.

"Shit! Glenda!"

Mallory turned around and searched for the horse. Nowhere in sight.

"Damnit!"

She ran towards the stables. Unbelievably, Glenda had returned to her pen, and all Mallory had to do was shut the gate. She mumbled a hurried goodbye to the horse before sprinting back to the truck. Matt had already started the engine and was seated in the passengers seat. Mallory hopped in and floored the gas. She took off with a loud screech, skidding across the unpaved dirt. Matt was thrown back in his seat and had one hand gripping the door and the other gripping the side of his seat. His knuckles were white.

Mallory was back at her house in 2 minutes. Matt ran next door to grab his things, and Mallory rushed inside. She could tell her grandmother wasn't home so she quickly scribbled down a note, grabbed her trunk and levitated it out the door and into the back of the truck. Matt appeared walking out the door of his house, carrying his trunk, obviously doing it the hard way. Mallory ran over to him, conjured the levitating charm and scolded him for not doing so himself. She was back in the truck and starting up the engine, while Matt loaded his trunk along with hers in the back. He hopped into the truck and before he'd even shut the door Mallory was pulling out of the driveway at breakneck speed.

"Mallory you're going to get us killed!" Matt shouted, as she drove, nearing 90 mph, swerving slower cars and nearly running red lights.

She barreled towards the Freeway onramp, completely ignoring Matt's pleads for her to slow down just a bit.

Matt stopped after a while ( especially after Mallory yelled at him to shut up ). He simply stared moodily out the window at the blur of scenery. He'd be lucky to see anything at all at the speed Mallory was going. After a good 90 minutes the freeway sign finally said they were nearing Los Angeles. But, as expected, nearing Los Angeles wouldn't be an easy thing. The traffic soon crawled to a halt and this left Mallory squirming impatiently in her seat.

"Move it people! There's no reason to stop!" Mallory shouted, as though it would help. She growled and banged her fist on the steering wheel, causing the horn to beep. Matt gave her a dirty look and continued staring out the window.

10 minutes later, they'd only moved half a mile. The sign said 1 mile until Rodeo Drive exit. At that rate, it would take them another twenty minutes.

"We…don't…have…_TIME_…for….this!" she mumbled, trying to keep her voice down. The traffic started moving….good…keep moving…

Ten minutes later and they'd traveled ¾ of a mile. She could see the exit…come on…just a bit closer…Mallory repeatedly stepped on the gas, causing the truck to lurch impatiently….if only this car would move over they could slide over and exit…yes, just a bit further…_NOW_!

Mallory hit the gas and exited the freeway.

"Look for an old Bank of America Matt! The International Floo Headquarters is located there." Mallory said.

It was supposedly on Rodeo Drive, near Downtown Hollywood. Mallory spotted it first. It was sitting at the corner of Rodeo and a second street. She quickly switched lanes, cutting off numerous cars in the process and ignoring obscene gestures from the other drivers. She pulled in to the rundown Bank and hopped out. The bank seemed to be obscured from sight of passerby by large overgrown bushes. Mallory quickly levitated both trunks into the air and, making sure not to be seen, set of quickly to the ready teller.

"I think I'm supposed to type in 'Floo'…" Mallory muttered to herself…she typed in the digits, and on the screen writing appeared.

_'Welcome to the International Floo Headquarters. If your destination is in the same nation that you are currently in, press 1_.

_If your destination is in the same continent that you are currently in, press 2. _

_If your destination is overseas, press 3.'_

Mallory quickly pressed 3. A new mass of writing appeared on the screen.

_'Please enter the number of the Continent you wish to visit._

_1-North America _

_2-South America _

_3-Asia _

_4-Africa _

_5-Europe _

_6-Australia _

_7-Antarctica_

Mallory pressed 5...once again a new message appeared.

_'Please choose the city you wish to visit._

_1-Paris _

_2-London _

_3-Barcelona _

_4-Dublin _

_5-Milan_

_6-Vienna _

_7-Budapest _

_8-Helsinki _

_9-Athens _

_10-Lisbon _

_11-Sicily _

_12-Copenhagen _

_13-Berlin_

Mallory pressed 2, hoping she wouldn't have to press anymore buttons. A final message appeared.

_'Please step through the doors at your right and sign in with one of the secretary's in the front. Have a wonderful day and thank you for traveling with the International Floo Network.'_

"Finally!" she motioned for Matt to follow her and stepped inside the double doors of the bank, and what she saw couldn't look less like a bank:

There were flashing signs above them, Some flashing London, some flashing what she assumed must be London in another language. On the left were hundreds of fireplaces, all lined up one next to the other as far as she could see. Above each fireplace was either a red or green light. The green ones were being used by people to leave Los Angeles. The red ones were hosting new arrivals. The right side was host to a long row of employees, each signing in the travelers. The first 10 employees were for English speaking travelers, the next few for Spanish, then French, all the way down through hundreds of languages to where mermish, troll, and gobbledegook brought up the rear. Mallory rushed up to the nearest open line and waited for the employee to speak.

"Flooing to London today are we? All right then I'll need you to sign this form. Do you have a vehicle that will be staying in our underground lot until your return? If so we'll need the keys and the license plate number." she said in a bored voice, "And your friend will need to fill one out too." she said nodding towards Matt.

"Yeah, yeah…I have a truck. Lemme fill this out then and I'll get you the keys."she said distractedly

Neither Mallory or Matt took their time in filling out the form. Mallory jotted down her license plate in the space provided and handed the woman the keys along with her form.

"That'll be 5 galleons each." The woman said. Mallory pulled out a handful of coins while Matt began to unpack his trunk to search for his money.

"Don't bother Matt, you can pay me back later. We need to go!" Mallory gave the woman ten galleons.

"You're all set, head to any one of the empty fireplaces with a green light over it. Just throw in the powder and hop in. No need to shout your destination, these fireplaces are hooked up to London only."

Mallory ran down the rows of fireplaces looking for an unused green one. She found one and quickly grabbed a handful of the powder. She threw it into the flames and they instantly sparkled emerald green. She grabbed onto her trunk and stepped into the flames. She instantly began spinning around and felt as though she was being smothered by a warm wool blanket.

Then suddenly it was cold.

She'd stopped spinning too.

She was on the icy tile floor of the London Floo Station. She looked up just in time to see Matt's trunk hurtling out of the fireplace towards her.

She didn't have time, however, to move out of the way. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the hit…

...any moment now it would come down on her and crush her…

...why didn't it hit her?

She looked up to see a strange boy holding the trunk up, just inches from hitting her. He had messy brown hair and silvery blue eyes. Hell, even his brown hair had a silver glow to it.

Mallory slowly stood up, rubbing the shoulder that hit the floor as she did so.

"Thank You." she said sheepishly.

"Not at all." The boy was expressionless. He turned, grabbed his own trunk, and headed towards the door.

Mallory openly stared at the boy, utterly perplexed, scratching her head.

"Uh, Mal, you ready to go?" Matt's voice came from behind her. She wasn't even aware he was there.

"Umm, yeah. We're supposed to go to umm, the Leaky Cauldron, I think it's called. There's supposed to be shops for us to get all our new books and stuff for school. We're supposed to get our supply list when we arrive to the Leaky Cauldron," Mallory said, getting back on track. "It should be just down the street, it's supposed to be a small dingy building."

Mallory grabbed her trunk and began dragging it along behind her. Matt followed her, not saying a word. They exited the doors and entered into a cold and rainy street.

"Oh my god Matt, it's raining! I've only ever seen rain once before!" Mallory exclaimed, awestruck. Matt, however wasn't as impressed.

"Yeah, ok, can we please just hurry up? It's freezing!" Matt hissed, obviously in a bad mood.

"Fine, geez!" Mallory's happiness had been punctured by Matt's rudeness.

They found the Leaky Cauldron, with a bit of help from a passing witch who, noticing their large trunks, had asked if they were Hogwarts students. They thanked the kind woman, and quickly ran inside. The pub was buzzing with a bit of light activity. Most of the occupants were just waking and were intent on having a nice warm breakfast before heading into Diagon Alley to do their shopping.  
Upon their arrival they were promptly greeted by the owner Tom. Mallory was at first shocked by his strange appearance and demeanor.

"Hogwarts students eh? You'll be wantin' a room? I'm afraid for tonight I've only got one room available, with one bed. You two'll have to be roomin' together." He croaked, eyeing the pair suspiciously.

"And if ye know what's good for ye, she'll be gettin the bed! You'll be on the floor, sonny." This last part was directed towards Matt.

He then clapped a gnarled hand on Mallory's shoulder and begin, not so gently, pushing her towards the stairs. Mallory hurried, quite uncomfortable with his touch. Once up the stairs Tom walked in front of Mallory and led them to a room.

"Room 12, this here's yours for the night." He said, thumping the door with his fist. "And here's your Hogwarts letter complete with supply list. Arrived just an hour or so ago. You two'll be Matt and Mallory, I'm guessing?" he said, handing them their letters. Mallory took hers. It read:  
_Miss Mallory Davae West, The Leaky Cauldron, London_

Mallory ripped open the envelope and began reading…underneath her acceptance letter was her list of classes and supplies.

"Hey Matt, They teach divination here…that might be interesting." she said.

Looking up, she saw that Matt had already gone in the room and had left Mallory standing in the hall. She rolled her eyes and walked in as well. She was surprised to see their trunks lying in the middle of the room. Hadn't they left them dowstairs when they were rushed up to their room? Mallory didn't dwell on it. She didn't really care.

Matt was sprawled on the bed, eyes closed. Mallory decided to check out the bathroom. The last thing she wanted was a disgusting bathroom. At first glance, the bathroom appeared clean, but upon looking in the shower she was disgusted. The enamel had once been white, but was now an ugly brownish yellow.

"Ugh! My God!" Mallory shouted, thoroughly disgusted. "This shower is filthy!"

"Well it's either that, or you don't shower, Mal, and I know better than to think you won't take a shower." Matt called from the other room.

Mallory just became aware of the state she was in. In her rush to get to London she hadn't done anything with her hair (which was still in the same messy bun she had in the pool yesterday), she hadn't changed clothes, and had no makeup on.

"Ugh! I look like shit!" Mallory exclaimed, leaning towards the mirror.

"You just figured that out?" Matt said, jokingly.

Mallory was out of the bathroom in a flash. She snatched up the pillow from under Matt's head and began beating him with it. Hard.

"You know what? I'm in a right mood to kick you're ass so don't play with me!" Mallory shouted at him, finally ceasing her pillow beating. Her usually light eyes had turned a dark menacing shade.

"Geez, calm down! Can't you take a damned joke? You've been acting like a complete bitch since we first left this morning! What the hell is wrong with you?" He said, knocking the pillow out of her hand. He stood up and walked towards the door. He opened it, and without a look back slammed it hard. A decorative mirror nearby fell from the wall and smashed into pieces.

"Fuck!" Mallory yelled, kicking her trunk over.She threw herself onto the bed and screamed into the pillow.

A knock came from the door. It was Matt again, Mallory just knew it.

"Go away Matt! You're lucky if I let you back in here at all!" Mallory shouted

"No..it's umm…" A girls voice came from behind the door.

The door slowly creaked open and the girl peeked her head in.  
She had long, curly, dark brown hair and chocolately eyes. She looked about 5'1, 5'2, whereas Mallory was about 5'5.

"My name's Maria." She said, opening the door a bit wider and leaning against the door frame.

"I heard some yelling and wondered if everything was alright." Maria took in the state of the room. Shards of glass scattered across the floor, the trunk Mallory had kicked had sprung open and it's contents had flown in every direction, many feathers were still floating in the air from Mallory's fierce abuse of the pillow, and Mallory herself, with her bun now flopping to one side of her head, clothes wrinkled, and mouth open in a mildly surprised expression. Maria tried not to smirk.

"Uhh…yeah. Just a bit of an argument…." Mallory scratched her head, causing more strands of hair to come loose and add more to her wild appearance.

"I'm Mallory by the way." She stood up and began walking slowly around the room. She took out her wand and held it in her hand, not sure where to start. Maria beat her to it.

"Reparo." She said, pointing her wand at the mirror. Another flick of her wrist and all of Mallory's clothes folded themselves and flew back into the trunk.

Mallory stood there dumbfounded. "Thanks." She finally managed to say.

"No Problem." said Maria, walking into the room and sitting down on the feather covered bed. She picked up a feather and twirled it in her fingers.

"Do you go to Hogwarts?" Maria asked suddenly.

"No, err, Yes…Kinda. I'm an exchange student so it'll be my first year.

Maria's chocolate eyes lit up. "Really? I'm an exchange student as well. Are you from the U.S?"she asked hopefully.

"Yeah. California….I've never heard of wizarding schools doing foreign exchange programs before. Not that I'm complaining. I'm really happy to be taking new classes that I've never had before. What year are you in?"

"I'm in 6th. How bout you?" Maria replied

"6th." Mallory grinned.

"So…have you gotten your supplies yet?" Maria asked cautiously

"No…me and my friend Matt, the one who stormed out a minute ago, were gonna get all that done with today." Mallory said, furrowing her brows and looking towards the door as though expecting Matt to come bursting in.

"Well I haven't gotten mine either. Do you wanna go get them with me?" Maria asked.

"Sure." Mallory replied. "I should find Matt though. He needs to get his supplies too." She said, rolling her eyes.

Mallory quickly changed clothes, magicked on her makeup, and fixed her bun. Once she was decent enough for public they decided to leave to look for Matt. They didn't need to look far.

"Well, well, well." Mallory said, smirking. "What do we have here?"

Matt was sitting on the floor right next to the door, back against the wall, with on leg sprawled into the hallway and the other bent to use as an armrest.. He did not look happy at all.

"Hey Maria, we'll meet you downstairs alright?" Mallory turned to her.

"Huh? Oh…alright then." She said. She'd been hoping to watch them fight.

She descended the staircase into the small pub. Nearly all the tables were filled with chattering families and mothers bickering with their children. She noticed an empty table and quickly took advantage of it.

_**Meanwhile upstairs**_

**__**

Mallory sat down on the floor right next to Matt. He turned his head away from her.

"Matt, I'm really sorry." she said softly. "I know I was awful to you today. I was just so preoccupied with making sure we got here."

Matt still didn't look at her. He pretended to be extremely interested on a spot on the floor.

"Matt, look at me." she said gently, she reached a hand over to cup his cheek and pull him to face her. "What's wrong? There's something bothering you and I know it's not just this."

She looked into his eyes and saw a mixture of things: Hurt, lust, and…confusion?

He looked away from her gaze and continued to stare angrily at the floor.

Mallory shifted over so that she was kneeling on the floor between his knees. She held his face in her hands.

"Matt, talk to me, come on, we just got here! We don't wanna spend our first time in England mad at each other, do we?" she gently stroked his cheek with her thumb.

"Matt, please." She moved her hands to run her finger through his hair and brought her face down close to his.

He let out an angry sigh and closed his eyes. "_This_ is what's wrong Mal!" He got up and leaned against the wall.

"What do you mean?" she asked, hurt. She remained on the floor.

"You're too confusing Mal! I don't understand what's going on with you. First, there's what happened last night, and now all day you've been acting like nothing happened and it meant nothing! What am I supposed to do?" He pounded his fist against the wall.

Mallory stood up and took his hand. "Come on, let's go inside and talk." She led him into their room and closed the door.

_**Back Downstairs**_  
Maria had sat downstairs for about 15 minutes. She'd found some thorough entertainment from a family of fiery redheads. There were quite a few of them, all of them boys except for one girl, who seemed a bit younger than the rest. The woman Maria had assumed was their mother was in a right state over something, Maria could only guess what.

Then she remembered that Matt and Mallory were still upstairs. She decided to go see what was up. Or rather make sure that Matt wasn't dead, unconcious, or suffering a concussion.

They were no longer in the hallway. Maria figured they'd gone back in their room. She walked up to the door and knocked.

No answer.

She opened the door and gasped.

Mallory and Matt were on the bed, Mallory on top of him, and both of them kissing very passionately. They both looked up when they heard the gasp.

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry I'm really sorry! I wondered where you were and I didn't think you would be doing that and Oh I'm sorry!" Maria said all in one breath, half covering her mouth, half flailing her arms and looking wildly around. She quickly backed out the door and shut it.

She quickly hopped down the steps, ran to the table and sat down, her face red with embarrassment.  
"Something wrong?" An old witch at a nearby table asked.

"Nope nothing." she said nodding her strangely. "Nothing at all."

Matt and Mallory came down the stairs, Mallory looking at the floor, her cheeks flushed, and Matt looking rather like a child who'd just had his candy taken away.

"So, ready to go shopping?" Mallory said brightly, as though nothing had just happened.

Once they were out the door Matt finally spoke for the first time since meeting Maria.

"So…how do we get there?" He asked.

"Erm…" Mallory muttered.

"Uhh, I think we're supposed to tap our wands on the bricks and it lets us in. I watched a few people do it." Maria said.

"Ok, well you do it. We don't have our wands. We don't usually carry them around with us." Mallory said.

Maria stepped up to the brick wall. "Ok…" she readied herself, put her feet shoulder width apart, and suddenly flung her wand out and tapped the bricks.

Nothing happened... except for Matt snorting and attempting to turn his laugh into a fit of coughs.

"Erm…hold on! I can do it, I saw them do it…I think I need to tap more than one." Maria said, remaining confident.

She repeated the process but this time flung her wand at 4 different bricks.

Still nothing.

" I give up! I'm so blonde!" Maria said, flinging her arms in the air and shuffling away from the brick.

"Here, let me try. Maybe there's a pattern." Mallory offered.

She awkwardly stepped up to it. She examined the bricks and bit her lip in concentration. Then she timidly tapped certain bricks and amounted in nothing but an eye roll from Matt.

Suddenly the door behind them flung open and 3 people exited the pub.

Mallory first noticed a boy, with messy raven hair and emerald green eyes behind a pair of glasses. With him was a taller boy with a mop of red hair and freckles. Walking huffily behind the pair was a rather angry looking girl with thick brown curly hair.

"Ooh do you know how to get through the barrier?" Mallory asked the trio. "We can't figure it out."

"Yeah. Here I'll show you." The raven haired boy smiled at her.

He stepped up to the wall and tapped a pattern on the bricks. They rearranged themselves until an archway was formed.

Mallory, Matt, and Maria all stood there dumbfounded.

(A/N I would like to add that YES Harry is quite happy because in my story Sirius will NOT be dead! I love him too much. You can interpret it anyway you like, Sirius came back out of the veil, it was really just someone else with polyjuice potion that fell through, whatever. In my book, he's ALIVE. Thank you)

"Thanks." said Mallory. "I'm guessing you 3 are hogwarts students. My name's Mallory."

"I'm Harry." said the boy with black hair. "And these two are Ron and Hermione." he said pointing to the pair behind him.

"And I'm Maria. Nice to meet you." She offered her hand to Ron, who she seemed especially interested in.

"Are you guys new? I haven't seen you 3 around before." Harry asked.

"Oh, we're exchange students. We're in our 6th year." Mallory said.

Hermione lit up. "Oh wow, exchange students. That sounds so exciting. Is it nice where you come from?"

"YeNo."

Mallory and Matt had both responded at the same time, Mallory saying yes and Matt saying no.

"What do you mean No? It's absolutely Beautiful!" she said staring at him incredulously.

"It's a damned oven that's what it is. I don't know how you enjoy that god forsaken place!" Mallory glared at him before turning back to Harry.

"So are you guys going in to buy you supplies?" Mallory asked.

"Just Ron. He hasn't bought his yet." said Hermione icily. She obviously was unhappy with Ron's lack of responsibility.

"Would you mind showing us around? We need to get all our supplies and would love to know where to get the best items." Maria said, still directing it towards Ron. She gave him her sweetest smile.

Ron gulped.

"Ye- yeah. I'll show you." He squeaked out. His ears turned red. Hermione smirked and rolled her eyes knowingly.

"Well how about we start out with the bookstore? Then we'll head down to the apothecary to stock up on potions supplies." Harry said.

"Sounds great." Mallory smiled and began walking alongside Harry, and Hermione followed behind the two, pulling a book out from her ever present book bag and began reading. Maria grabbed Ron by the arm and pulled him along. Matt was left standing there forgotten.


	3. Such Happy Woes

Ch.3 "Such Happy Woes" 

"_Wow_…."

Mallory stood dumbstruck in front of the shop window. Her bags filled with books and potions supplies fell from her hands to the floor.

She was in awe.

In front of her was the most amazing broomstick she had ever seen. Firebolt 2005 edition. On her old school quidditch team all they rode were Nimbus's.

"You play quidditch?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows in half surprise half delight.

"Of course! I was the star chaser on my old team."She said.

Matt grumbled from behind her. He still had been neither introduced to the three new friends nor acknowledged in any way. He began to wonder if perhaps he'd been cast with a disillusionment charm, but dismissed that idea, for he'd surely have felt that.

"Really? Harry exclaimed. "That's great! We lost most of quidditch team last year due to graduation. I play seeker, Ron here is our Keeper, and we have one Chaser, her name is Katie Bell (For those of you who are wondering, yes Katie is a 7th year, she did not graduate with the other two chasers).

"I have to buy this broom!" Mallory said, before running into the store.

5 minutes later she emerged with a nicely wrapped broom shaped package.

"I bought a kit to go along with it." Mallory said, holding up another bag. Ron looked at her incredulously.

"That must've cost a bloody fortune!" he exclaimed.

"Well, it was rather a lot, but I've been saving up, not to mention my parents left me with a lot of money." Mallory said, looking uncomfortable. She didn't like discussing her parents. Not even Matt knew the whole of why she ended up living with her grandmother. She pushed it all to the back of her mind.

"All I need to do now is get my robes fitted." Mallory said looking at her list.

Mallory walked into Madam Malkins robe shop and found that the selection for robes was very old and out of style. She cringed at them.

"Can I help you m'dear?" asked Madam Malkin.

"Yes I need to be fitted for Hogwarts robes." she said politely.

"Ok just step over here then please." Mallory was forced to stand there with her arms bent at odd angles while the old woman measured then placed unsewn cloth around Mallorys body and pinned it.

"Oh dear me, I got the wrong color fabric. I'll be right back."

Mallory stood there, arms up, waiting for her to return.

"Oh for heavens sake!" she mumbled.

Harry, Ron and Maria were all standing near the back of the room apparently having a deep conversation. Hermione was nearby, still immersed in her book. Matt was standing moodily outside the door.

"Well if it isn't the Weasel and Potty." came a drawling voice.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all looked around a scowled.

"Haven't you come up with anything more original, Malfoy? It's getting old."

"Why? It suits you two so well." he said, smirking.

"Why are you here, anyway? I'd assume your father would've had your robes custom made weeks ago." Harry said

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm here with my girlfriend. She's getting her robes fitted today. I'd like to introduce you to the lovely Morissa Eveland." He put his arm around the waist of the girl next to him.

She was slighter shorter than him, but still taller than the other girls in the shop. She had long dark brown hair that seemed stylishly messy and textures and green eyes with smoky shadow. Her perfect lips were stained a deep berry. She was wearing high strappy sandals, a black cami, and faded Capri's. She also had a black ribbon tied around her neck as a choker.

"Lovely? Ha!" retorted Hermione.

"Watch your beaver mouth, mud blood. You'd be lucky to ever be acquainted with a beauty such as her!" said Draco.

Morissa turned her attention to Mallory. Mallory gave her a cold hard stare. Morissa looked her up and down before smirking and turning away.

Harry pulled out his wand and aimed it at Draco.

"You won't get away with calling Hermione a mud blood ever again, Malfoy!" Malfoy reached to pull out his wand and send a curse at Harry.

"Impedimenta!" However it was not Malfoy's voice that shouted the curse. It was Morissa's.

Harry was sent flying back into the shop wall. His head hit the wall with a cracking thud.

Mallory flung the pinned up cloth away from her body and advanced on Morissa. A perfect opportunity to practice her wandless magic.

"Fuegarius"

However, once again, it was not the intended person's voice who had shouted the curse. It had been Hermiones.

A lethal looking spray of fire came streaking through the air at Morissa. Morissa however, was obviously a skilled dueler and muttered the counter curse without a moments hesitation.

"Extinguisho."

A blast of water came out of the tip of her wand and sizzled menacing when it made contact with the water. Smoke went up in the air and soon Mallory was coughing and choking, unable to see. She could just make out Morissa's figure ahead of her and began stumbling towards her. She pulled her fist back as far as she could and launched it at what she assumed was Morissa's head. Her knuckles hit a hard bone and hurt like hell. Morissa was sent flying into Draco.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Draco said, pulling a flailing Morissa out the door. Morissa apparently was ready to fight back.

Once out the door Mallory quickly muttered a spell and the smoke disappeared from the room.Everything appeared normal.

"What was all that racket?" Madam Malkin said, upon re-entering the room.

"Oh, it must've been some kids outside." Mallory said. She just realized that Matt had witnessed none of this. He was still outside.

They finished up with fitting Mallory and were back outside where Mallory finally vented.

"Ohh that little witch!" Mallory said. "How dare her attack Harry!" Mallory was distracted from her thoughts by a deafening racket coming from a store across the street. It was the pet store.

"Ohh! I want to buy a pet!" Mallory exclaimed, lugging her purchases across the street. Morissa had obviously been completely removed from her mind.

Once inside she noticed the cause of havoc. There were dozens of owls screeching and squawking like no tomorrow, and there was a number of magical dogs barking and pulling at their restraints and throwing themselves against their cages.

The cause of all this noise was one cat.

The shop owner had apparently let the cat loose and upon gaining freedom the cat launched itself at the owls. The dogs seeing a prospective meal were inclined to attempt to break free as well.

"Oh it's such a pretty cat!" Mallory exclaimed.

Matt thought it was a nuisance.

The cat was pretty though. It's slender toned body was covered in shiny black fur and it had a snow white star on each ear and a third star on it's back just near it's tail. It's crystal blue eyes resembled Mallory's. This cat was so destined to be hers.

"Come here, precious." she cooed. The cat purred and winked it's eyes at Mallory before beginning to slowly walk towards her.

At that moment the most vicious and lethal looking of the dogs threw itself hard at the cage door, which could no longer survive the beating and the dog came racing full speed towards the cat that had just entered Mallory's arms.

Mallory screamed.

The cats blue eyes turned a fiery red andegan clawing at Mallory in an attempt to get away. Mallory closed her eyes and tried to shield her face from the raving cat and lunatic dog.

This did not help, however, and soon her body was knocked to the ground by the full weight of the dog. She was vaguely aware of the fact that the cat had latched itself to her arm for dear life.

Suddenly she was overcome by an intense sharp pain. The cat had lunged out of Mallorys arms and had been replaced by the vicious canine's sharp teeth.

She was unaware of the screaming and yelling around her as she was screaming louder than them all. She felt warm blood spurting from her arm and nearly blacked out when the dog began shaking its head and tugging at Mallory's arm as though trying to rip it away.

She screamed incoherent words and tried in vain to lift her free arm to hit the dog in the nose, poke it's eyes out, anything to get the vicious dog off her arm. Just as she was about to black out she heard an unfamiliar voice.

"Impedimenta!" The stunned dog let go of Mallory's arm. She didn't care though…she didn't even know.

She whimpered and cried and tried to roll over to escape the cold pool of blood she was laying in.

"Mallory?" She only heard Matt's frightened voice softly whisper her name before she passed out for good.

"No, no, go to bed. I'll stay…"

"We're not just gonna leave her alone in this condition. We want to make sure she's alright."

"When do you think she'll wake up?

"Probably soon, she always did have somewhat of an immunity to internal potions. The sleeping draught would only last a few hours on her."

Mallory heard voices around her. Although she had her eyes closed she could tell it was dark around her. Her whole body felt like a pile of bricks. Despite her protesting body, she opened her eyes and peered around her. Maria was sitting in a corner reading while Matt was pushing Harry, Ron, and Hermione out the door, insisting they get sleep. Mallory giggled at them.

"Hey look she woke up!" Ron said suddenly.

Matt turned around so fast he was certain he had whiplash.

"Mallory! Are you ok? Does it hurt?" he ran to her bedside.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired."

"I'm glad you're ok….I was so scared. Your arm was so mangled by that dog…" he cringed Mallory looked down at her healed arm and noticed all that was there was a long scar going up the length of her inner forearm.

"The healer said that should go away in a few months." Matt said, gently stroking up and down her arm.

Mallory smiled weakly.

"Oh, and the shop owner felt absolutely awful about what happened, and since you seemed to like that cat so much, he decided to give it to you as consolation. It's getting it's shots right now, but it'll be brought to you tomorrow morning before we leave for the train." Matt added.

Mallory beamed.

"Oh, that cat was just gorgeous!"

"I know someone who's even more gorgeous." Matt said, smiling at her with a twinkle in his eye.

Mallory blushed.

"Aww, come here." she said, holding out her arms for a hug.

"You're so sweet." Mallory held on to Matt, just enjoying having him hold her. She felt like she could sleep right there in his arms.

"Hey, we're gonna go now that we know she's alright." Ron said. "We'll see you guys tomorrow."

Then Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Maria all said their goodbyes and left the room.

"Now," Matt said once they'd left. "I think someone needs to go to bed. We'll be leaving early tomorrow morning." Mallory pouted.

"Not yet…stay with me." She scooted over to one side of the bed, leaving a space. She patted on it, signaling for Matt to come over.

Matt couldn't resist her cute pout.

" All right. I'll stay." He walked over to the bed, lifted the covers and slid in next to her.

Mallory snuggled up against him and rested her head on his chest. Matt smiled down at her and gently stroked her hair.  
Mallory closed her eyes. His touch felt so soothing…she could hear his constant heartbeat and could feel the gentle swell of his chest as he breathed.

As she drifted off, he whispered gently to her:

"Goodnight, sweet Mallory."


End file.
